Maslow and his stupid triangle

This is Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Nobody seems to understand that this is a hierarchy.

Just to give a bit of background. More and more students are being taught this in schools around the world, but because when this comes about, it's always touch-and-go because no one is teaching psychology at a secondary school level. They are simply using this as a tool to push whatever lesson they have, like English or Social Studies or Character Development or whatever.

This is a very simple example of giving kids tools but not teaching them how to use it. 

The way students misuse this in school is that they like to cite this as an academic theory to prove that people have certain specific needs that they are trying to prove. The needs that people have (according to them) can be anything from needing food to money or even to spiritual needs. This just happens to be the convenient blanket example or theory that proves them right, simply because it's listed here in the pyramid.

Now, adults, let me have a word with you here. With the education that we have, it is simple to see that this theory is meant to prove a hierarchy, that people HAVE to fulfil the bottom (food and sleep) before we go on to the top. We GET that, because we have been bombarded with enough stimuli that we know to expect such a pattern when people show a picture of a pyramid or the word hierarchy.

The thing is, kids don't get that.

To them, they see a convenient list that someone named Maslow wrote down for them that proves that we have all these needs. It doesn't. It simply shows that we have to fulfil basic needs before we concern ourselves with higher-order ones. This is why the poor don't concern themselves with respect by others or why North Koreans don't seem to worry about creativity. 

What we see and what they see is different and even now I find it difficult to get back into the mindset of learning for the first time. I'm not sure whose fault it is and I'm not even sure that matters. Identification of misconceptions like this is important and we need to get a hold of that as soon as possible.

It's very disappointing to see students using a power drill when they don't know how to.